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The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

A fortune for a fortune teller? Ruth Ware returns with another mystery thriller to keep you reading through the night in The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

Hal’s life has been most unfortunate with the hit and run death of her mother and the loan sharks threatening to knock out her teeth if she cannot make more money reading tarot cards on the pier. Suddenly, her luck changes when she becomes heir to her grandmother’s fortune. But wait; it’s not really her grandmother – or is it?

Ware weaves a page turning adventure within a Gothic setting. As the interloper in a family of brothers who had expected to inherit the estate, Hal finds herself in the middle of family drama and resentments, and the deceased Mrs. Westaway seems to be stirring the pot beyond the grave. The housekeeper, Mrs. Warren, is the Mrs. Danvers character right out of du Maurier’s Rebecca – cold, creepy, and tyrranical, and the perfect foil to Hal’s timid second Mrs. de Winter who finally finds her courage.

Although the resolution is obvious long before the ending, and the villain is not a total surprise, The Death of Mrs. Westaway is great fun for fans of Ruth Ware. I enjoyed the distraction.